Port of Gothenburg container traffic up by two per cent in Q3 2014
Port of Gothenburg container traffic rose by two per cent during the third quarter compared with the corresponding period in 2013. Passenger and ro-ro traffic also increased although there was a fall in the shipment of cars and energy products, Port of Gothenburg said in its press release.
The number of containers passing through the Port of Gothenburg rose during the third quarter. In total, 208,000 containers* were handled, up two per cent on the corresponding period last year.
"We have noted a slightly stronger third quarter this year compared with the same period in 2013," said Magnus Kårestedt, Chief Executive of the Port of Gothenburg.
However, figures for January-September compared with the previous year show a fall of five per cent.
The Port of Gothenburg handle almost 60 per cent of all containers shipped to and from Sweden. Exports include paper, steel, timber products and food. Imports are largely in the form of consumer products, such as clothes and food, as well as industrial components and electronics.
Ro-ro traffic, which accounts for a large proportion of seafreight in northern Europe, rose by three per cent during the third quarter of this year.
Magnus Kårestedt continued: "Our ro-ro volumes have shown stable growth throughout the year despite reports of a slowdown in Europe."
Passenger traffic reported the highest increase during the third quarter – up 10 per cent. 742,000 people opted to take the sea route to or from Gothenburg for business or pleasure during the period.
This year was also a record year for cruise traffic with 73 calls and 110,000 cruise guests. Gothenburg is now the second-largest cruise destination in Sweden after Stockholm.
34,000 new passenger cars passed through the Port of Gothenburg during the third quarter, a fall of six per cent on the corresponding period last year. On the other hand, the figures for January-September show that the number of cars handled rose by nine per cent.
The most significant downturn was reported by the Energy Port. Crude oil imports and the shipping of refined products, such as diesel and petrol, fell by 14 per cent during the third quarter.
The downturn can be attributed to low margins for refined products and global uncertainty regarding the price of oil.
